


Keep it Clean

by anaraine



Category: The Covenant (2006)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:41:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27166043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anaraine/pseuds/anaraine
Summary: Neither Sarah nor Caleb want to be alone when they're not completely convinced Chase is dead. This makes showering a little awkward.
Relationships: Caleb Danvers/Sarah Wenham
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	Keep it Clean

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheYearOfTheWolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYearOfTheWolf/gifts).



Caleb keeps the fingers of his right hand laced with hers for the entire drive back to the Danvers estate. It's not safe, Sarah _knows_ that it's stupid and a good way for them to get into a car crash, but she can't manage to keep her hands from trembling long enough to let him go.

Caleb doesn't say a thing, lets her cling to him without a word. She loves him a little, for that.

Sarah's expecting to see Mrs. Danvers —Evelyn— waiting for them, because in her place she'd want to _know_ , but Caleb bypasses the living room for the stairs without even a hello.

"What about your mom?" Sarah asks, her steps slowing.

Caleb shakes his head. "She's not here."

"Oh. I— Is she okay?"

"She's with Gorman," Caleb says, which isn't an answer, not really. But Sarah is too tired to dig any deeper. Evelyn isn't here. Fine. One less thing to worry about right now.

She's seen Caleb's bedroom before, but it was more of a quick peek than anything else. Evelyn had showed her to a guest room when they were prepping for the dance rather than making her use his. That conversation feels like it happened months ago, rather than just yesterday.

Caleb has an en suite bathroom. She's not sure why she's surprised. Of course a big old house like this has a million bathrooms. There's probably enough bathrooms that the entire swimming team could take showers in his house simultaneously.

"We're both filthy," Sarah says slowly, her eyes trailing over the toiletries scattered on the sink counter. "I could use one of the guest ones and then we'd both get clean."

Caleb shakes his head roughly as he pulls towels down from a cabinet. "I can wait outside. I just— I can't— I don't want to leave you alone." He looks frustrated by a perceived weakness.

Sarah understands the feeling intimately. After all, he had held her hand the entire way here.

"Shower with me," she says quickly.

"Sarah?"

Her cheeks flush with heat. It's not weird, she tells herself. She'd been planning to have sex with him at some point. He is a much better kisser than her last boyfriend, and she'd figured he would be better in bed too. That he would be seeing her naked now instead of later doesn't make that much difference. She'd even shaved yesterday.

"I don't want to be alone either. We can shower together."

Caleb hesitates a second longer before accepting. "Thank you," he says, pressing a quick kiss to her dirty cheek.

He starts in on the cufflinks of his dress shirt while Sarah fumbles with the tiny zippers of her dress. It's a relief when it falls to the floor in a puddle of fabric. The dress is beautiful, but she's not sure she ever wants to wear it again. Her strapless push-up bra meets the same fate, and then she's stepping out of her underwear and kicking off her heels.

"Here, let me," Caleb says, and he gently unhooks the silver choker Evelyn had lent her and lays it on the counter.

"Thanks," Sarah says, and takes a breath before turning back around.

She's seen him naked before. Or well, close enough, given that swim team speedos don't really hide anything. This is just evening the playing field. The appreciative glance that rakes up her body before fixing on her face is nice, actually. She knows she looks like a hot mess, but he still finds her attractive.

"Hey," he says. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sarah nods, and tries not to look below his waist. She figures she managed as well as he did. "I just— I want to get clean." The smears of ash on her skin are itchy.

"Me too," Caleb says, and honestly, of the two of them, he's probably the worse off. He looks like he's been rolling around in the mud.

Caleb steadies her as she steps over the high rim of the enormous claw-foot tub.

"You have no idea how many times I've slipped in this damn thing," he says ruefully.

"You can't remodel?" Sarah asks as he follows her in.

"Not without completely redoing the piping in the house. I probably will, once it's mine. But my father never wanted to deal with it, and my mother—"

"Right," Sarah says in understanding as he pulls the curtain shut and turns on the water. "But you could at least get those little stickies, couldn't you? Or would that ruin the enamel or something?"

"Stickies?"

"The non-slip bathtub stickers you put on the bottom of the tub?"

"I can't say I've ever heard of them," Caleb says as he ducks his head under the water and scrubs a hand through his hair. He makes a face when his hand comes out covered in dirt. "I'll have to look into it."

"Some people think they're tacky," Sarah continues, picking up an unlabeled bottle and sniffing it delicately. It's more woodsy than floral, but the scent of pine isn't overpowering. "But I would much rather have a tacky bathroom than crack my skull open on a tile floor."

"Given how many times I've almost done that, I'd have to agree with you. Here, switch places with me."

Sarah does, and hot water pours over her hair and down her shoulders. "Oh, that's nice," she says, and scrubs at her skin a little, flecks of ash swirling down the drain. "Is this okay to use?"

"Yeah, go for it. It's a bodywash." Caleb has dumped a handful of dark green soap on his head and is vigorously working up a lather.

It's almost normal. If she closes her eyes and pretends, she can almost imagine that she's back in the dorms and Kate's in the shower next to her and they're gossiping about seeing one of the professors on a date in town.

Except that it's not Kate next to her, it's Caleb.

"Is Kate going to be okay?"

Caleb pauses in his scrubbing. "She should be," he says finally. "Any spells that Chase had active should've ended with his death. But if she isn't, I have the power to fix it now."

"Good," Sarah says, and it takes her a second to realize that she's crying.

"Oh, Sarah," Caleb says, and he's close enough to hug so she does. He holds her as the water pounds down on their heads and washes away her tears.

Kate was right. He really is one of those majorly good guys. Even if he does have some weird demonic hell powers. And his dick is starting to chub up against her.

"Um," Sarah says.

Caleb groans. "Just— ignore it. Sorry. It doesn't mean anything."

Her laugh is a little watery, but genuine. "I'm supposed to ignore my boyfriend getting hot for me?"

"It's not really appropriate—" Caleb says, aggrieved frustration leaking into his voice.

"The timing's not great," Sarah admits. "But I want to. Soon, even. Just, uh, maybe not today."

"My plans for today are to get clean and then face-plant into my bed for at least ten hours. I'd prefer it if you joined me, but I can set up a guest room if—"

"No," Sarah interrupts, shaking her head. "Your bed is fine." She still doesn't want to be alone.

"Great. Then let's, uh, finish here and I can find you some clothes. They'll probably be a little big—"

If they're his clothes, they're going to be a lot big. Still. "That sounds great."


End file.
